Jeremiah 9-10

Jeremiah 9-10New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

9 [a] O that my head were a spring of water,and my eyes a fountain of tears,so that I might weep day and nightfor the slain of my poor people!2 [b] O that I had in the deserta traveler’s lodging place,that I might leave my peopleand go away from them!For they are all adulterers,a band of traitors.3 They bend their tongues like bows;they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth;for they proceed from evil to evil,and they do not know me, says the Lord.

4 Beware of your neighbors,and put no trust in any of your kin;[c]for all your kin[d] are supplanters,and every neighbor goes around like a slanderer.5 They all deceive their neighbors,and no one speaks the truth;they have taught their tongues to speak lies;they commit iniquity and are too weary to repent.[e]6 Oppression upon oppression, deceit[f] upon deceit!They refuse to know me, says the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:I will now refine and test them,for what else can I do with my sinful people?[g]8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;it speaks deceit through the mouth.They all speak friendly words to their neighbors,but inwardly are planning to lay an ambush.9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord;and shall I not bring retributionon a nation such as this?

10 Take up[h] weeping and wailing for the mountains,and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,and the lowing of cattle is not heard;both the birds of the air and the animalshave fled and are gone.11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,a lair of jackals;and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation,without inhabitant.

12 Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that they may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it, 14 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am feeding this people with wormwood, and giving them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.

The People Mourn in Judgment

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;send for the skilled women to come;18 let them quickly raise a dirge over us,so that our eyes may run down with tears,and our eyelids flow with water.19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:“How we are ruined!We are utterly shamed,because we have left the land,because they have cast down our dwellings.”

20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,and let your ears receive the word of his mouth;teach to your daughters a dirge,and each to her neighbor a lament.21 “Death has come up into our windows,it has entered our palaces,to cut off the children from the streetsand the young men from the squares.”22 Speak! Thus says the Lord:“Human corpses shall falllike dung upon the open field,like sheaves behind the reaper,and no one shall gather them.”

23 Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24 but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

25 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.

Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel

10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the way of the nations,or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens;for the nations are dismayed at them.3 For the customs of the peoples are false:a tree from the forest is cut down,and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;4 people deck it with silver and gold;they fasten it with hammer and nailsso that it cannot move.5 Their idols[i] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,and they cannot speak;they have to be carried,for they cannot walk.Do not be afraid of them,for they cannot do evil,nor is it in them to do good.

6 There is none like you, O Lord;you are great, and your name is great in might.7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?For that is your due;among all the wise ones of the nationsand in all their kingdomsthere is no one like you.8 They are both stupid and foolish;the instruction given by idolsis no better than wood![j]9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,and gold from Uphaz.They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith;their clothing is blue and purple;they are all the product of skilled workers.10 But the Lord is the true God;he is the living God and the everlasting King.At his wrath the earth quakes,and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

11 Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.[k]

12 It is he who made the earth by his power,who established the world by his wisdom,and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.He makes lightnings for the rain,and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.14 Everyone is stupid and without knowledge;goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols;for their images are false,and there is no breath in them.15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;at the time of their punishment they shall perish.16 Not like these is the Lord,[l] the portion of Jacob,for he is the one who formed all things,and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;the Lord of hosts is his name.

The Coming Exile

17 Gather up your bundle from the ground,O you who live under siege!18 For thus says the Lord:I am going to sling out the inhabitants of the landat this time,and I will bring distress on them,so that they shall feel it.

19 Woe is me because of my hurt!My wound is severe.But I said, “Truly this is my punishment,and I must bear it.”20 My tent is destroyed,and all my cords are broken;my children have gone from me,and they are no more;there is no one to spread my tent again,and to set up my curtains.21 For the shepherds are stupid,and do not inquire of the Lord;therefore they have not prospered,and all their flock is scattered.

22 Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming—a great commotion from the land of the northto make the cities of Judah a desolation,a lair of jackals.

23 I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control,that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.24 Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.

25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you,and on the peoples that do not call on your name;for they have devoured Jacob;they have devoured him and consumed him,and have laid waste his habitation.

Sirach 11:1-17

Sirach 11:1-17New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

The Deceptiveness of Appearances

11 The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high,and seats them among the great.2 Do not praise individuals for their good looks,or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.3 The bee is small among flying creatures,but what it produces is the best of sweet things.4 Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,and do not exalt yourself when you are honored;for the works of the Lord are wonderful,and his works are concealed from humankind.5 Many kings have had to sit on the ground,but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.6 Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,and the honored have been handed over to others.

Deliberation and Caution

7 Do not find fault before you investigate;examine first, and then criticize.8 Do not answer before you listen,and do not interrupt when another is speaking.9 Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.

10 My child, do not busy yourself with many matters;if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless.If you pursue, you will not overtake,and by fleeing you will not escape.11 There are those who work and struggle and hurry,but are so much the more in want.12 There are others who are slow and need help,who lack strength and abound in poverty;but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them;he lifts them out of their lowly condition13 and raises up their headsto the amazement of the many.

14 Good things and bad, life and death,poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.[a]17 The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,and his favor brings lasting success.

Footnotes:

Sirach 11:14Other ancient authorities add as verses 15 and 16, 15 Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the law come from the Lord; affection and the ways of good works come from him. 16 Error and darkness were created with sinners; evil grows old with those who take pride in malice.

Jude

JudeNew Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Salutation

To those who are called, who are beloved[c] in[d] God the Father and kept safe for[e] Jesus Christ:

2 May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

Occasion of the Letter

3 Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.[f]

Judgment on False Teachers

5 Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, that the Lord, who once for all saved[g] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust,[h] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

8 Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones.[i]9 But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander[j] against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. 11 Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are blemishes[k] on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.[l] They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming[m] with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their own lusts; they are bombastic in speech, flattering people to their own advantage.

Warnings and Exhortations

17 But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 for they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.” 19 It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; 21 keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to[n] eternal life. 22 And have mercy on some who are wavering; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.[o]

Benediction

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

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